Railway-rail and joint therefor.



J. MURPHY. RAILWAY RAIL AND JOINT THERBIOR.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 4.1908.

' Patented May 10,19%.

2 SHEETSf-S-HEET 1.

.UTMOGRAPMERs wAsmNGroN n l J. MURPHY.

RAILWAY RAIL AND JOINT THBRBFOR.

APPLIOATION 1111,31) MAY 4 190s Patented May 110, w10.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Jai/@615 www l JAMES MURPHY, OF GREELEY, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR 'IO ELBERT C. SMITH, OF GREELEY, COLORADO.

RAILWAY-RAIL AND JOINT THEREFOR.

envase.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May it), 1919.

Application led May 4, 1908. Serial No. 430,776.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES MURPHY, a citizen of the United States residing at the city of Greeley, county of ilVeld, and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Rails and Joints Therefor;` and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railway rails.

My improvements consist in a special construction of the rail extremities, whereby it becomes practicable to form the rail joints without the use of what are ordinarily termed fish plates, or angle bars. The extremities of my improved rails are so constructed that when the joint is formed, the rail is much heavier at the joint than at any other place, by virtue of the fact that the web of each rail end is reinforced, the reinforced part projecting laterally beyond the tread of the rail. Furthermore, by virtue of my improved construction, it becomes practicable to make longer rails, since the openings in the reinforced portions of the rails, may be made larger without unduly weakening the rail, thus giving an opportunity for the greater longitudinal expansion incident to rails of great length, comparatively, as from 7 0 to 90 feet.

Each rail is provided with a part extending beyond the end of the base of the rail, and consisting partially of an extension of the web portion of the rail, and partially of an extension of the tread of the rail. These overlapping parts of the two rail ends, engage each other on opposite sides,

thus forming virtually a continuous rail at the joint, or making the joint fully as strong and rigid as any other portion of therail, thus preventing the extremity of either rail from moving downwardly, independently of its adjoining extremity, as is the case with ordinary abutting rail ends.

In my improved rail construction, the web of the rail on the reinforced side, is provided with elongated bolt holes, to provide for expansion, while the overlapping web extension ofthe opposite rail is provided with relatively small bolt holes, in which the bolts lit closely, the said small holes being located opposite the elongated openings. It will thus be observed that when the joint is completed, there are two large holes and two small holes on each side of the overlapping portions of the rails.

Having briefly outlined my improved con struction, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing, Figure l is a top plan view of a rail joint formed by uniting the extremities of my improved rails. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the extremity of one of my improved rails. Fig. 2l is a side elevation of the same, looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are cross sections taken on the lines 5-5, 6 6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10, respectively, of Fig. l. Fig. 1l shows a face view and a sectional view of a nut-locking washer, which 'may be employed in connection with my improved rail joint. Fig. l2 shows a front view and an edge view, respectively, of a special construction of nut adapted to be used with the washer shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 13 shows a side and an end view, respectively, of a special construction of bolt which may be employed. Fig. 14 is a fragmentary side view of a rail end showing a slightly modified form of construction, the rail being shown on a smaller' scale than in the other views.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate one of the extremities of a rail, illustrating my improved construction. As the joint extremities of both rails are exactly alike, the description of one alone will suflice. The web of the rail for a considerable distance in the rear of the termination of the base, is reinforced as shown at 6 (see Figs. 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9). For a short distance in the rear of the extremity 7 of the base, the tread of the rail is half cut away, as shown at 8, forming an oifset 9. For a short distance in the rear of this offset, the web of the rail is cut away, as indicated at 10, forming anarrow offset, or shoulder 12. The out away portion of the tread of the rail, also extends beyond the extremity 7 of the base, as shown at 13,

while, forward of the termination 14 of this eut away portion ofthe tread, is an extension arm 15, which consists only of an extension of the reinforced web portion of the rail, the tread being entirely cut away (see Fig. 4). The arm 15 is further cut away on the inside, as shown at 16, leaving a shoulder or offset 17, slightly forward of the offset or termination 14, of the tread portion of the rail.

The portion of the rail end having the reinforced web 6, and located in the rear of the extremity of the base, is provided with elongated openings 18, to provide for expansion and contraction, while the portion of the rail end extending forward of the extremity 7 of the base, is provided with bolt holes 19, of ordinary size and adapted to lit, or approximately fit, the connecting bolts.

When the rail ends are assembled, or connected, to form a joint, the portion of each rail end extending beyond the extremity of the base of the one rail, overlaps the base of the other rail, and the lower edge of this projecting extremity rests upon a flat seat 31, formed by reinforcing the upper surface of the base of the other rail, while the tread offsets 9 and 14 of each rail extremity, are arranged opposite each other, or in opposing relation, which is also true of the shoulders 12 and 17 of the rail ends. These shoulders form stops which prevent the tread offsets 9 and 14 from coming into direct contact with each other. Vhen properly assembled, these rail extremities are connected by bolts of any suitable construction. As shown in the drawing, the threaded extremities of the connecting bolts 20, are passed through the elongated openings in one side of the rail, while their opposite extremities engage the smaller openings in the opposite side of the rail. As shown in the drawing, washers 21 of special construction are applied to the threaded end of each bolt and made to en- Y gage the reinforced web portion of each rail extremity. The lower edge of each washer is straight, as shown at 22, and engages a narrow shoulder 23, formed just above the beveled spike-engaging portion 24, of the rail. By reason of this shoulder, the washer is prevented from turning on the rail. Each washer is provided with an elongated recess 25, formed on each side of the bolt hole 26, and adapted to receive tongues or projections 27, formed on the nut 28. Zhen the parts are assembled, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lugs 27 of the nut engage the recesses 25 of the washer, whereby the nut is locked against turning. If desired, bolts of the construction shown in detail in Fig. 13, may be employed, and having their threaded extremities provided with slots of kerfs 29, intersecting each other at right angles, and adapted to receive pins or keys 30, which are passed through openings formed in the nuts and arranged to register with one of the slots of the bolt, so that after the nuts are tightened and the keys or pins are i11- serted, it is impossible for the nuts to turn independently of the bolts.

From the foregoing description the use and advantages of my improved rail will be readily understood. By virtue of reinforcing the web of each rail in the rear ofthe extremity of the base, the rail extremities are given great strength and durability, while by virtue of the overlapping extensions beyoiid the meeting base extremities of the two rails, the rail ends are so interlockcd as to prevent the possibility of any vertical movement of either rail end, independently of the other, since a portion of each extension lies beneath the tread of the opposite rail.

Instead of using a washer 21 with recesses 25 therein, to receive the lugs 27 of the nuts 28, the rail itself may be provided on each side of the elongated openings 1S with recesses designated 31 (see Fig. 14), adapted to receive the lugs 27 of the nut, in which event, the latter will directly engage the reinforced web of the rail.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is,

l. A railway rail whose web is reinforced on one side, the said reinforced part extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremity of the base of the rail, the tread of the rail being vertically cut away, thc cut away portion extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremity of the base of the rail, the forward portion of the reinforced extension of the web of the rail having its tread part removed, whereby when the rail joint is formed, the said foiward portion is adapted to project underneath the tread of the other rail, the base of the rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for the web-and-tread extension of the other rail, substantially as described.

2. A railway rail whose web portion is reinforced on one side at the extremity of the rail and partly cut away on the opposite side, the said reinforced and cut away portion of the web of the rail extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremity of the base of the rail, a portion of the tread of the rail being vertically cut away to coincide with the cut away portion of the rail web, the said cut away portion of the tread extending both forwardly andrearwardly from the extremity of the base of the rail, the forward extieinity of the reinforced web extension of the rail having its tread portion cut away, the base of the rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for the web-and-tread extension of the other rail, substantially as described.

esmas j web part extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremity of the base of the rail, the web of the rail being partially cut away on the side opposite the reinforced side, the tread of the rail projecting forward of the extremity of the base of the rail, but terminating in therear of the forward extremity of the reinforced web extension, the base of the rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for the web-and-tread extension of the other rail, substantially as described.

4. A railway rail whose extremity has its web reinforced on one side, the said rein forced portion extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremity of the base of the rail, the web of the rail being cut away on the opposite side from the reinforcement, but for a distance less than the length of the reinforcement, forming a shoulder in the rear of the extremity of the base of the rail, the forward portion o-f the reinforced web extension having its tread portion entirely cut away, and its web portion further cut away on the side opposite the reinforcement, forming a second shoulder of the same, or approximately the same, width as the first named shoulder, the said shoulders being so arranged that when the rail joint is formed, the second shoulder of one rail abuts against the first shoulder of the other rail, the base of the rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for the web-and-tread extension of the other rail, substantially as described.

5. A railway rail whose extremity has its web portion reinforced on one side, the said reinforced web portion extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremity of the base of the rail, the web of the rail on the opposite side from the reinforcement being' cut away vertically, but for a distance less than the length of the reinforcement, forming a shoulder forward of the rear extremity of the reinforced web part, the tread of the rail being half cut away vertically from a point located forward ofthe said web shoulder and extending to a point forward of the extremity of the base of the rail, the forward part of the reinforced web extension having its tread part entirely cut away, and its web part cut away on the opposite side from the reinforcement, forming a second shoulder, the base of the rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for the web-and-tread extension of the other rail, substantially as described.

6. A railway rail whose extremity has its web reinforced on one side, the reinforced part extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremity of the base, the

base of the rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for the reinforced web-extension of the opposite rail, the reinforced web portion in the rear of the extremity of the base being provided with enlargedopenings, and whose reinforced. portion forward of the extremity of the base is provided with bolt openings of normal size, substantially as described.

7. A rail joint composed of cooperating rail ends, having abutting base extremities and overlapping reinforced web extremities extending beyond the base extremities, a portion of each overlapping web extremity having a half tread portion extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremityl of the base, the two half tread portions coperating in the joint to form a complete rail tread, the base of the rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for the treadeextension of the other rail, substantially as described. j

8. A rail joint composed of two meeting rail extremities, whose base extremities are arranged in abutting relation, each rail ex tremity having a web portion extending beyond the extremity of the base of the rail, the two web extensions being arranged to overlap to form the complete web of the rail, the forward extremity of each projecting web portion extending underneath the tread of the opposite rail, the base of each rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for theweb extension of the other rail, substantially as described.

9. A rail joint formed from two rail extremities having abutting base extremities, half of the tread of each rail being cut away for a distance extending both forwardly and rearwardly from the extremity of the base of the rail, and the half tread portions of the rails cooperating to form the complete tread, each rail extremity having a web portion extending forward of the forward extremity of the cut away portion of the rail, the said web extension of each rail extending underneath the tread of the other rail, the base of each rail being reinforced to form a supporting ledge or seat for the web and tread extension of the other rail, and suitable means for connecting the overlapping rail extremities to form the joint, substantially as described.

10.|A rail joint composed of two rail extremities having abutting base and tread extremities,ueach rail end having a web portion extending forward of the abutting treadand base extremities and occupying a position underneath the tread of the opposite rail, the base of each rail having a supporting ledge or seat for the overlapping extension of the other rail, substantially as described.

1l. A rail joint composed of two coperating rail extremities, the web of each rail wardly and rearwardly from the abutting of these reinforced web portions are proeXtremities ofV the bases and treads of the vided with bolt holes of normal size, subrails, the forward extremity of each reinstantally as described.

forced web projecting underneath the tread In testimony whereof I allix my signature 5 of the opposite rail, the base of each rail in presence of two witnesses.

having a supporting led'e or seat for the overlapping extension ofbtheopposte rail, JAMES MURPHY each reinforced web portion 1n the rear of Vitnesses: the abutting base and tread ends having ALLEN JAMESON,

A. R. FRISBIE.

l0 enlarged bolt holes, while the forward parts 

